


here, kitty kitty

by highfalutin baby birb (fevered_dreams)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Cat/Human Hybrids, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Hybrids, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Pining Keith (Voltron), Recreational Drug Use, Slow Burn, lance is a cat hybrid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-14 13:17:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16041239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fevered_dreams/pseuds/highfalutin%20baby%20birb
Summary: Keith knows who Lance is. He's pretty sure everyone at school does. Lance is the campus' hybrid golden boy, after all, with his pretty chocolate brown fur and bright blue eyes. He also happens to be in Keith's calculus class.Still, Keith never expected to be roped into a fake relationship turned friends-with-benefits situation with him. It's a bit tricky to keep the charade up after Keith starts crushing hard, but he does his best because he just can't find it in him to give any of it up.alternatively: want to fuck a cat doggy style?





	1. Chapter 1

Keith didn't know what to do with himself at parties, especially not ones this big and crowded. He never really had; there were just so many people, most of whom he didn't know, and Keith was very much aware of how bad he could be when it came to talking to strangers. He hoped, though, that a few more drinks would help him through it.

So, with a bit more force than he would've liked, Keith elbowed his way through the throngs of people there. Sometimes, he hated how well-known Adam and Shiro were around campus. They were the school's resident powerhouse couple and all-around nice guys, so it made sense that almost everyone liked them. At the same time, it could be a bit of a hassle, like right now when all Keith wanted was a bit of a buzz.

In front of the drinks table was a impressively - and annoyingly - large gaggle of people. Some of them were like him, just trying to loosen themselves, while others were just hanging around and mingling. As it stood, there was a pretty young woman right in front of Keith and blocking his way with big, slightly-glassy eyes who looked up at him with a smile.

"Hey there," she purred. She took a step towards Keith and only stumbled a bit. "What's your name?"

"Keith," Keith responded shortly. "I'm trying to get a couple of drinks over there. Behind you."

She cocked her head to the side, and her blonde pigtails swayed prettily. It was almost hypnotizing, the way it floated through the air so weightlessly. "I can get you some drinks. For a price, that is."

"I don't think I can pay you what you're asking for."

She giggled and took another step forward. "You're cute. I like cute guys."

Keith took a step back. Keith knew she'd be able to chew him up like nothing else. Keith was weak to these kinda things. He never knew how to come out on top. Maybe he just wasn't mean to.

Luckily, a pure ball of fluff was there to come to his rescue.

Someone laughed from afar. Then, suddenly, they weren't all that far away. In fact, they were running right into Keith, jostling him to the side and further away from the cute little blonde girl that was now pouting and glaring at the scene before her. Others around them also seemed unimpressed with the whole display, judging by the way they flinched and grumbled, but at least they hadn't bumped into the drinks table.

"Oh, sorry about that!"

Keith turned his head and found his nose caught in a pile of soft, sweet-smelling hair for a brief moment. Except, after pulling far away enough for his eyes to focus properly, Keith discovered that it wasn't really hair. At least, not the single-layered human hair that Keith was used to. It was more like dense fur, pretty tufts of them covering a long, lazily-swinging tail.

And, in front of Keith now stood Lance. They stared at each other for some time, and Keith noticed a twitch in Lance's ears and long, incredibly-furry tail before Lance smiled at him.

"Keith! Hey! I don't think I've ever seen you at a party before." Lance leaned in a touch closer, and he curled his tail up around his side. The tip of it waved slightly, like it was trying to greet Keith or maybe lure him in closer. He was also dancing lightly, swaying along to the slightly far-away music, and Keith couldn't help but follow each little motion with his eyes. "I was starting to think that you were just too cool for these boring old college parties."

Keith snorted. "More like these things are too cool for me. I've never been a good party-goer."

"Come on, I think you're doing pretty great. You caught Nyma's eye, after all."

Keith assumed that Nyma was the pretty blonde that was talking to him earlier. He glanced around and noticed that she was gone, now, presumably grown tired of Keith after Lance's interruption.

"I don't know about that. It looks like she got tired of me pretty quickly," Keith said.

Lance shrugged, and his ears seemed to shrug with him. "Sorry about that. We can try to find her again later, if you want. I'll even be your wingman."

"Nah, that's fine."

And that really was fine by Keith. Now he could finally get something to drink, and having Lance there with him wasn't all that bad, either. Keith wasn't particularly close to Lance, but they were acquainted. They even shared their calc class together, and Lance was great friends with Hunk who Keith was somewhat more well-acquainted with.

Besides, everyone knew who Lance was. It was hard to miss him, with his chocolate brown fur and nicely tanned skin that contrasted prettily against his light blue eyes. Oh, and there were those cat ears perched on top of his head and crazy fluffy tail.

There weren't many hybrids amongst their student body, even after they had finally gotten the right to start attending college a few decades ago, so Lance stood out even more because of that. He was their golden boy, after all, and generally beloved.

Suddenly, Lance lurched to the side a bit. Instinctively, Keith reached out a hand to help steady him, and he accidentally caught ahold of Lance's tail. The fur there was extremely soft, and Keith kinda wanted to just let his hand stay there so he could stroke up and down it for awhile longer. He didn't, though. Instead, Keith hastily pulled his hand away when it seemed like Lance was steady enough.

Keith knew that most hybrids didn't exactly like to be touched and pet without permission. Most people, in general, didn't like being touched without permission. Of course, when it came to hybrids, some people had the tendency to forget the fact that they were just like most people.

Thankfully, Lance didn't seem particularly upset with Keith touching his tail. He simply laughed with a wide smile, flashing his pearly whites at Keith. The lights were dim, but, with his face so pretty and open, Keith could see that Lance's face was a bit more flushed than usual, and his eyes were brighter than usual, too. In fact, his eyes were a little glassy like Nyma's had been, and something about it made Lance look so good.

Keith also realized that he had never been this close to Lance before. For some reason, he had always assumed that Lance was taller than him. With the ears, Lance actually was a bit taller than Keith, but the top of his head only skimmed Keith's eye.

Keith fought against the lump in his throat to finally say something past the encroaching silence that only made it more obvious just how drunkenly good Lance looked.

"You ok there?" Keith asked, except it came out as something more like a strangled whisper. He could still feel Lance's warmth on his palm, and the way it lingered was quite distracting.

"Oh, yes," Lance breathed. He bounced lightly on his feet, and the motion had his ears bouncing, too. Just the tiniest bit. "Just a little tipsy, you know?"

"I don't know," Keith answered honestly. "I don't think I'm drunk enough to feel tipsy."

"Well, we're just going to have to change that, won't we? What do you want?"

Keith blinked, momentarily dumbfounded, before responding. "Oh, umm... a gin and tonic, I guess?"

Lance cocked his head to the side, but the movement was a bit slow. "That's such an old person drink."

"But I still like it. I don't know anything about those super sweet cocktails, and beer just tastes bad. Can't say I'm a big fan of wine, either."

Lance scoffed, but he left without another word.

Lance was much better at this whole party thing than Keith was, but Keith was sure most people were better at this than him. Lance, at least, was able to get to the drinks table much more efficiently than Keith. He didn't have to elbow his way through. He could simply snake his way through the crowd with his lithe little body. Even when he was stopped and accosted by others who flirted so obviously and so poorly, all Lance had to do with smile and laugh a few times before he was gone, shaking off the poor saps.

Lance was back a few minutes later, two drinks in hand. One of them was clearly the gin and tonic Keith had asked for, and the other one was pink and presumably one of those super sweet cocktails Keith didn't know anything about.

And it was that exact pink drink that Lance pressed into Keith's hand.

"I asked for the gin and tonic," Keith said lamely. He tried to resist the drink, for a little bit, but Lance was just so determined and hopeful that Keith didn't want to turn him away.

"I know, so I got a gin and tonic," Lance said. He held up the other drink to emphasize his point, as if Keith hadn't already seen it. "But I also went ahead and got you one of those fruity cocktail drinks you're so afraid of."

"I never said I was afraid of them," Keith mumbled.

Lance rolled his eyes. "You didn't have to say it out loud for me to get it. This one is a Pink Panther. It's mostly vodka, amaretto, pineapple juice, and a bit of grenadine for color. It's delicious, trust me."

"Then you should drink it." Keith moved to hand the drink back to Lance, but Lance refused it, instead taking a sip of the gin and tonic. Figuring there was no way to convince Lance otherwise, Keith sighed and took a sip of what Lance called a 'Pink Panther'.

And, he had to admit, it really was good. So good that Keith practically chugged it because he could barely taste the alcohol in it.

All the while, Lance was grinning triumphantly.

"And you were so against it when I first brought it out," Lance chuckled. "But it really was nice, wasn't it? It's one of my favorites."

"It is - " Keith began. He cut himself off at the sound of his own voice wavering. Colorful cocktails really were dangerous, he thought to himself. "It is really nice. Thanks."

Lance just smiled before downing the rest of the gin and tonic in a single gulp. He threw his head back to do so, revealing the long line of his neck to Keith. Keith watched the way Lance's Adam's apple pulsed with each swallow for some time before quickly averting his eyes.

Except, by looking elsewhere, Keith was caught unaware by Lance's hands gripping down onto his arm. "Come on, Keith, let's go dance. They've actually got someone decent in charge of the music here, unlike most other parties I've been to. Trust me, we lucked out."

Before Keith could say anything, Lance was already dragging him away, and Keith couldn't bring himself to really stop him. The trip was a bit tricky with the hint of a stumble in Lance's step, but at least Lance's grip was firm enough to keep them from pitching into the crowd.

And, thankfully, Lance's grip was still just as firm when they finally entered the throng of people. Within the mass of people dancing and kissing, it was hot, and Keith was already sweating up a storm. On the other hand, Lance was unfazed with it all. He was quick to start dancing along to the music with vigor, hands clasped tight around Keith's wrists, only to let up when Keith started dancing along, too.

Keith wasn't the best dancer, but he was still able to keep up with a beat without embarrassing himself. In contrast, Lance moved so nicely and naturally, and some part of Keith felt that it was a huge shame for him to be dancing so mediocrely next to someone like Lance.

Lance didn't seem to mind, though. After a few minutes of dancing face-to-face and side-by-side, Lance took hold of Keith again, this time by resting his hands lightly against Keith's hips. Suddenly emboldened, Keith grabbed onto Lance's hips in return before pulling him in closer. At first, Lance looked at Keith with mild shock, and Keith was worried that he'd just made some kind of faux pas, accidentally offending Lance in the process.

He was all prepared to apologize and pull his hands away again to keep them to himself from now on, but then Lance was laughing, and his eyes were twinkling as he pressed close to Keith.

"You're not that bad of a dancer, you know," Lance whispered. In reality, Lance was actually yelling because he had to yell over the music in order to be heard, but it felt like a whisper to Keith. There was also a slight rumbling coming off of Lance, purring, Keith supposed, that made it feel all the more intimate.

"I'm nowhere near as good as you, though," Keith yell-whispered back.

"Most people aren't."

They danced together for some more time, letting the music flow over them as they came together even closer and closer. Keith knew there were dozens of people around them, crammed together in Shiro and Adam's apartment - and where in the world were Shiro and Adam themselves? - but all Keith could focus on was Lance in front of him.

Despite how lanky and lean Lance was, Keith still feel a hint of softness over his hips, and Keith couldn't stop himself from gently digging his fingers in so he could feel Lance and his hipbones even more. And Lance was just so warm and welcome. He looked so happy to have Keith there with him, dancing poorly with him, smiling the whole way through as he locked eyes with Keith.

And Lance's eyes were even bluer than Keith had initially thought.

Lance's tail was also wrapped tight around his body. For awhile, Lance had let it unravel and roam free, but several people had considered that an invitation to go ahead and pet and yank at his tail. Keith and Lance had both given them nasty glares at that, and Lance had almost gotten into a fight over it before Keith held him back. After that, Lance had curled his tail back up again, safe and sound against him.

It was a shame, however. Keith liked to see Lance's tail swish around at ease.

Keith finally got another chance to see it after Lance decided that he wanted another drink. He followed Lance through the crowd, watching Lance once again shimmy through everyone on his way back to the drinks table. Of course, it took a bit more time and effort on Keith's part, but he made it out alive eventually.

When he finally caught up with Lance, Lance already had another pink drink in his hand that he was sipping at quickly. The hair and fur on Lance's head was slightly damp, and his face, too, was shiny with sweat, but he looked so good regardless.

"You want some?" Lance asked, holding the drink out to Keith.

Keith shook his head. "I'm good for now, thanks."

Lance nodded and drank the rest from where he was leaning against a wall of the sparsely-populated area of the room. He looked ever the relaxed kitten, and it made Keith feel calm, too.

After finishing, Lance moved to step towards Keith, only to stumble on his way. For the second time that night, Keith shot a hand out to steady Lance. This time, he found the palm of his head pressed right against the small of Lance's back. Lance's tail flicked and brushed against the back of Keith's hand, briefly, and Keith reveled in the feeling.

"Easy now," Keith said, and this time it was a real whisper.

"Sorry," Lance breathed before laughing. His face was even more flushed than before, and his eyes were practically swimming, "about that. Again. You're really my knight-in-shining-armor tonight, aren't you?"

"Just trying to help you from breaking something."

"You're much nicer than you act in class," Lance said.

Keith opened his mouth, ready to respond, but suddenly Lance was slipping out of his grip. Before Lance could completely face-plant, another person was suddenly there, helping to keep Lance vaguely upright.

"There you are," the new person said. Keith looked up and saw that it was Hunk, the second familiar face of the night. Keith wondered how he hadn't seem him earlier than this; Hunk was hard to miss, but he also supposed that the place was pretty packed. "I've been looking all over for you, Lance."

"Sorry, Hunk," Lance said. He glanced up at Hunk and gave him an uninhibited smile. "I was just having so much fun with Keith over here, you know?"

"Apparently." Hunk glanced over at Keith and gave him a wry smile.

"Sorry," Keith said awkwardly. "I should've watched what he was drinking better."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Hunk waved off. "Lance is an adult. I think he just forgets what alcohol can do to him."

"Low alcohol tolerance?"

"Oh, yeah," Hunk said. "It's the hybrid in him. We have fancy low-percentage alcohol designed for hybrids at our place, so I think sometimes he forgets that regular alcohol is at least twice as strong. It tends to come on him pretty fast and strong, when he does end up drinking too much, so it can also be hard for him to pace himself well."

Lance whined, and Keith's attention was immediately brought back to where he was scrunching his nose up at Hunk, ears slightly flat against his skull. "Hunk, you're making me sound like some kind of irresponsible kid."

"Lance, you're making yourself sound like an irresponsible kid."

Lance huffed, but didn't release his grip on Hunk's beefy forearm. Even propped up, Keith noticed that Lance was still a bit shaky.

"I think it'd be best to get him home," Keith said slowly.

Lance turned his scrunched-up nose Keith's direction, but he didn't argue against him, and Hunk was eager to agree with Keith.

"You heard the guy," Hunk said. He let go of Lance, and Lance was mostly stable as he slowly followed behind Hunk. "We should get going."

"I haven't had the chance to congratulate Shiro on finishing his thesis, though," Lance argued.

"You'll have plenty of time for that later," Hunk responded.

"Besides," Keith added, "I bet Adam is _congratulating_ Shiro enough for all of us."

Lance barked out a laugh at that, swaying slightly as he did so, before righting himself. Hunk, too, chuckled before he was preoccupied again with watching over Lance.

Keith watched them take a few more steps forward, Lance's tail swinging easily behind him, before another annoying drunk touched Lance's tail again, stroking it against the fur down to its base.

Quickly, Lance whipped around and hissed at the offender, eyes slitted and ears pushed down completely flat, but all the guy did in response was laugh and wave it off.

"Asshole," Lance hissed under his breath.

"Get home safe," Keith whispered. "Make sure you steer clear of guys like that."

Lance sighed and rolled his eyes. "Trust me, I _try_. Those kinds of people are everywhere, though."

"I bet."

And Keith really did, despite how sad that was.

With that, Lance and Hunk were on their way out, and Keith followed them shortly afterwards. Not to their apartment, of course, but back to his own. In general, Keith liked living along, but something about returning to his dark, empty apartment was a little lonely.

At least, as he laid in bed that night, Keith had images of pretty brown fluff and blue eyes to lull him to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Keith didn't have calculus on Monday's, but he still saw Lance the following Monday in one of the cafeterias. He was leaning over one of the tables, tail swinging here and there at a lazy pace as he spoke to Allura and Pidge. Keith had seen scenes like this before, but never before had he felt the need to watch Lance so closely.

It was comforting, though, in its own way, watching the way Lance moved and stretched when he was at ease with people he was familiar with.

However, the moment was ultimately short-lived. After a few more minutes, Lance was off, leaving Allura and Pidge behind with a wave and skip in his step.

"He's pretty cute, isn't he?"

Keith jolted a touch where he sat, whipping his head around to the sight of Shiro hovering over him.

"Should you really be saying something like that?" Keith mumbled. "When you already have a boyfriend? What would Adam say?"

"Adam also thinks Lance is cute."

"It seems like everyone thinks Lance is cute."

"It's hard not to. He's a good kid, too. Real sweet."

Keith rolled his eyes. " _Anyway_ , good job on finally finishing your thesis. You still have to defend it, though, don't you?"

Shiro sighed as he sat down next to Keith. "I don't want to think about that right now. I still want a little time to bask and relax after all the months I spent writing it."

"Too bad Adam still has to finish his," Keith added.

"It's fine. Just two more weeks to go and only twenty more pages to write."

"You make it sound like twenty pages is easy," Keith said.

"After you've spent so much time writing so many more pages, you start feeling like writing thirty pages really is pretty easy," Shiro answered tiredly.

They spoke for some more time before Keith was saying his see-you-later's. Keith walked quickly, determined to get back home just as quickly; he had just went through a gauntlet of exams the previous week, and he wanted to take advantage to the next few days of relative calm.

His way home was, somehow, not calm.

Keith had no idea where Lance had gone when he left earlier, but, regardless, he didn't expect for Lance to end up coming up behind him, practically barreling into Keith as he ran.

"Oh, sorry about that!" Lance exclaimed after clipping into Keith.

The words gave Keith a sense of deja vu, even though their current situation was nothing like their meeting at the party.

"Lance?" Keith asked when the shock subsided. He took in Lance's haggard form, heavy breathing, and the impatient dart of his eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Keith," Lance breathed, finally noticing that it was Keith he had run into. "Hey, I know this is sudden, but could you maybe do me a favor?"

Lance's tail was twitching again, but this time it looked impatient and a bit furious.

"Sure. I'll do my best to help," Keith answered, and he really meant it.

But, out of all the things he figured that Lance might've asked help for, Keith certainly did not expect him to blurt out, "Would you mind kissing me and pretending to be my boyfriend for a second?"

Keith was so flabbergasted that he really couldn't do much more than stare at Lance with narrowed eyes. Lance just stared back with hopeful eyes.

Eventually, Keith asked, "What do you mean?"

"I meant what I said," Lance responded. "Look, I don't know how much time we have before he catches up to me, so please give me an answer fast so I can know whether or not I need to keep running."

"Running from who?" Keith asked.

"From my latest admirer," Lance sneered. "Some guys really don't know how to give up."

"You seem to have a lot of problems with these 'admirers' of yours."

"You don't know the half of it." Lance looked over his shoulder quickly before turning his attention back to Keith. "Come on, man, yes or no?"

Keith paused and thought about the situation. He was pretty sure he should've said no. It would've been the smartest decision out of the two he apparently had. Keith didn't even know how to pretend to be Lance's boyfriend to get an admirer off Lance's tail, even if it was just for a second.

Except, Keith didn't say no. Instead, he gave Lance a slow nod, eyes fixed on Lance's the whole time.

In turn, Lance broke out into a wide smile.

"Oh, _thank you_ , Keith," Lance breathed. In the momentary silence in-between Lance's words, Keith could faintly hear the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps. "And just in time, too."

Before Keith could even wonder about what Lance meant by that, Lance was wrapping his arms smooth around the back of Keith's neck, and Keith was leaning into a kiss.

Lance's lips were soft and plump, oh-so smooth and so warm against Keith's. Keith didn't feel any hint of Lance's tongue, but that, for some reason, didn't stop Keith from slipping his own tongue to lick at Lance's closed mouth, and then Lance's tongue was there, too. His tongue was also nice and smooth, and it moved against Keith's tongue eagerly.

Really, this was probably the best kiss Keith had ever been a part of, and it wasn't even a  _real_ kiss.

But it was so nice that Keith didn't even realize they had an audience until Lance drew away, eyes lidded and lips slightly-parted. Then, Keith noticed a handsome, but mousy-looking guy staring at them in both shock and disappointment.

"I'm sorry, Josh," Lance said. He pulled away his hands as he spoke, and Keith felt bereft at his absence even though he had lived perfectly fine without Lance's arms around his neck before. "You see, Keith here is my boyfriend. That's why I kept saying I couldn't go on a date with you. It has nothing to do with you, I promise."

"But, but - " the guy, apparently named Josh, stuttered, "but you didn't have a boyfriend last time I checked."

"Well, these things happen on a daily basis," Lance said. "Sometimes even kinda suddenly, too. You know how it is."

Josh flicked his eyes Keith's direction before glaring at him. Keith did his best to keep his own expression neutral despite how utterly confused he was. "Are you sure you can't just go on one date with me? Maybe I could convince you, if you could see how well we work together."

"I'm sure I can't," Lance said, and he was admirably patient about it. "I can't go on dates with other people when I'm already in a relationship. That's not the type of person I am. _But_ I'm sure that you'll be able to find someone else eventually! It'll be even easier if you just... forget about me, yeah? You're probably too good for me anyway."

Josh remained for some time, trying to convince Lance to date him or something, but he eventually left with one more glare aimed at Keith. All Keith could do was shrug and offer a sheepish smile, but Josh didn't look very happy with that.

Keith stood beside Lance and watched in silence as Josh walked away. Finally, once Josh was completely out of sight, Keith spoke. "What was that all about?"

Lance sighed. "Oh, God, it's a long story. You know, being a hybrid can be a bitch sometimes. You get all these guys who go around sexualizing you and fetishizing you, always talking about your heats and how cute you are, how you must be a super sweet boy who loves pets and cuddles."

Lance paused and cocked an eyebrow at Keith. "And, I mean, I _do_ like pets and cuddles, but not when people assume it of me and stuff. The guys at the parties who go around tugging and my tail and whatnot are usually the ones who are easier to manage because at least they usually just leave me alone if I say no."

"Guys like Josh on the other hand are especially annoying. They're just obsessed with the idea of being with a hybrid because they think we're just gonna be their cute little pet who loves them unconditionally as long as they feed us and give us a bit of attention. Josh apparently thinks that I'm so much of a cat that he rolled me up a few joints of _cat nip_. Can you imagine that? It's like it someone handed you a joint of basil leaves just because you were Italian and expecting you to thank them with blowjobs and affection, or something. Like it's really that easy to get someone to like you."

Lance shrugged, and Keith hated how tired Lance looked. "I get guys like him all the time, and they're always bad at taking no for an answer. Josh has been hassling me for almost a month, now, and I couldn't think of any other way to get him off my back except by pretending I was already in a relationship or something. Thanks for that, by the way."

"No problem," Keith said. "With a problem as annoying as that, I'd be more than happy to help out. Except - " he furrowed his brows as he looked at Lance. "What are you going to do when Josh and people like him realize that we aren't actually dating?"

Lance blinked, and then tilted his head to the side as he thought about Keith's question. "You know, that's a really good question. I guess maybe I could just act like I'm too heart-broken from our breakup to think about dating anytime soon."

"But then they might consider that their best chance to get with you, by helping to console you," Keith argued. "So they'll end up trying even harder."

"Fuck, you're right," Lance groaned. "I don't know. I'll think of something. I might just have to get mean to them, if that's what it takes."

And Keith should've just nodded and let Lance go on his merry way just the same as Keith was before Lance had run into him. That would've probably been the best decision.

Except, Keith went ahead and opened his big mouth instead. "You know, if you really need me to, I can pretend to be your boyfriend for awhile. Maybe it'll help get some of these guys off your back so they can get a life and stop being so obsessed with you."

Lance gasped. "Are you sure? Really sure? It's fine if you don't, honest, but I wouldn't turn the offer down if you're really sure."

"I'm really sure," Keith said before he could stop himself the way he should have. "I'd feel bad letting you get chased around by these 'admirers' of yours if I could help do something about it."

"Oh, Keith," Lance breathed, and he looked so pretty when he was happy and looking at Keith with such admiring eyes, "you're amazing!"

"I just try my best," Keith said, despite his sneaking suspicion that he was doing something scummy in his own right.

At least Lance looked happy enough and, maybe for now, that was fine.


	2. Chapter 2

Keith was just sitting, minding his own business and trying to wrap his head around the reading he had been assigned for his philosophy class. He really didn't understand how people could be wordy enough to fill up hundreds of pages with words that felt meaningless, but here it was.

So, Keith was not necessarily in the mood to be interrupted. He even had his headphones in for that exact reason - to be left alone in peace.

Somehow, despite all that, Keith found himself accosted by both Shiro and Adam at the quaint, little coffee shop Keith was trying to study at.

"So," Shiro drawled, and Keith groaned to himself. "I hear you're dating Lance now. When were you planning on telling me about that budding romance you apparently had going on?"

Keith looked around the coffee shop quickly. No one was paying them much attention, but he gestured the two of them closer to him anyway, just in case. They both sat down with two sets of chairs scraping against the fake, fading wood of the shop floors. Now, Keith had two sets of eyes smiling at him wickedly.

"There was no budding romance between me and Lance," Keith whispered. "There still isn't. I'm just fake-dating him to get some hybrid-obsessed creeps off his tail." He paused and didn't appreciate the way Adam was smirking at him, lips quivering in an obvious attempt to keep himself from laughing. "Figuratively speaking, that is."

"I can't believe you're fake dating Lance, of all people," Adam said after he was finally able to calm down his burgeoning laughing fit. "Actually, I can't believe you're fake dating someone at all."

"Honestly, neither can I," Keith sighed, closing his book with a firm thud. "But it just kinda happened."

"And how does something like this 'just happen'?" Shiro asked.

"Lance was running away from some hybrid-obsessed guy who loved smoking catnip, or something, and then he ran into me. I felt bad, just leaving Lance with some creep, so I agreed to help him out," Keith explained.

"By agreeing to be his fake boyfriend?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, pretty much."

Adam and Shiro gave Keith dual unimpressed looks, and Keith didn't appreciate being ganged up on like this. Keith wished that everyone who practically worshiped the ground Adam and Shiro walked on could see them now, being so mean and petty when all Keith wanted to do was finally write a paper for his philosophy class that wasn't mediocre.

"Look, I panicked, ok?" Keith groaned after a few more minutes of just being stared at so flatly, yet so aggressively. "Lance looked so desperate to get away from the guy, and then his story about always having so many weirdos stalking him all the time was just too sad for me to not do something about it, and the first thing that came to my mind was to be his fake-boyfriend to hopefully give him a bit of a break."

Keith heaved in a haggard breath after his long-winded explanation, and Shiro, at least, looked mildly approving.

Adam, on the other hand, just looked even more amused.

"Keith," Adam drawled. The sound sent wary shivers up Keith's spine, but he stayed sitting steadfast and ready. "How do you intend to keep this whole fake relationship actually going?"

"What do you mean?" Keith asked. Keith knew that people considered Adam to be the more gentle and laid-back member of their power duo couple, but he knew that Adam was really the nasty one, when he wanted to be. More often than that, though, Adam was just a bit of a pain in the ass sometimes. "I figure we should hang out together sometimes, eat lunch and study together, and then we 'break-up' when it's all over."

"Don't put it so cynically," Shiro cut in. "At least try to go out and make some new friends. You can't just hang out with me and Adam all the time. You should make some more friends who are your own age, not old, lame grad students like us."

Keith rolled his eyes. "Please, you two are practically famous around campus."

"Lance is pretty famous, too," Adam added.

Keith rolled his eyes again, and he felt like his eyes were about to drop right out of his skull from how deep they went. "With you guys grilling me like this, maybe I really do need new friends."

"That's the spirit," Shiro said. It wasn't exactly the response Keith wanted, but it was very Shiro. "I hope you and Lance become great friends."

"You just want me to stop encroaching on your date time."

Adam shrugged. "Who knows?"

Eventually, Shiro and Adam finally quieted down, and Keith was more than ready to go back to slogging through his philosophy reading. He was so focused on it that he hadn't bothered to look up at the sound of tinkling of the shop entrance opening. He hadn't even looked up at the vague feeling of someone standing near the table, at first; Keith figured it was either Shiro and Adam getting up out of their seats.

Except, a flicker of a long, brown line caught Keith's attention from the corner of his eye. That certainly hadn't been there before.

Keith looked up, slowly, and suddenly Lance was there, standing beside his table with an expectant look and raised eyebrow.

"Hey there," Lance said. He was looking down at Keith with swirling eyes. "Aren't you gonna say hi back and invite me to sit with you, lover?"

"Hey," Keith replied. At least, he tried to, but it ended up just coming out as a garbled mess of a sound. He cleared his throat before speaking again. "Hey, Lance. Lover."

Lance laughed, and his eyes swirled again. "Funny running into you here. I never thought you'd be a cozying up in a coffee shop kinda guy."

"Oh, what are you saying, Lance?" Keith asked. "Wasn't our first date in a coffee shop?"

Lance blinked, and Adam looked over at Keith with a smirk. Then, Lance laughed again while shimmying his way into the seat beside Keith. "You know what? I suppose you're right. I can't believe I forgot."

"I don't blame you," Keith breezed. "We've been on plenty of other great dates after that. I guess it'd be easy to forget amidst everything else."

"I guess you're right again."

Adam snorted around his cup of coffee, and Keith glared at him before turning his attention back to Lance. "Oh, they know. About us, I mean. I hope that's ok."

"It's fine. I figured they did," Lance said.

"Anyway, I'm glad you two are finally getting your whirlwind romance story straight," Shiro interrupted. "But Lance I and have some studying to do."

Keith narrowed his eyes. "Studying what?"

"CS," Lance answered. "It's torture at its finest, but Shiro helping me at least survive."

"I thought you were pre-vet," Keith said. "What are you taking CS classes for?"

"I am pre-vet," Lance said. "But I thought CS would be a nice class to take for our technological society and whatever, and it fit in with my schedule. So, I figured, why not? Except, I don't think I was made for CS."

"Then quit," Keith said blandly.

"I am _not_ quitting until I'm failing. That's not the kinda person I am," Lance huffed. "And right now I have a solid high C that I'm trying to turn into a high B, at least. I'm paying for the class, after all, so I'm gonna get as much out of it as I can."

"So that's why you're here?" Keith asked. "To meet Shiro for your tutoring session?"

Lance shrugged. "Sorry, lover. It can't always be about you, but it was nice running into you." He paused to swipe away the last piece of Keith's chocolate croissant. A few buttery flakes fell off over his fingers before he had the chance to swallow them down, but Lance was unfazed. Instead, he just went ahead and licked the remnants off his fingers with a small pop that sounded way louder to Keith than it had any right to. "But how about we set up another date night for sometime soon, if you're free?"

Keith took a swig of his now-lukewarm coffee to give him a second to think. He lifted the cup away from his mouth slowly before setting it down with a light clink. "I should be free this weekend? Or I can probably find some time during the week, if you prefer."

"The weekend is fine," Lance said. "There aren't any super cool guy house parties this weekend, after all."

"Sorry," Adam said. "I still have to finish _my_ thesis, you know."

"More like you want some date time of your own," Lance argued.

"Well, you're not wrong."

" _Anyway_ ," Shiro repeated, standing up from his seat. Shiro was a fairly large guy, though, and Adam wasn't much smaller, so he had to shimmy awkwardly between the wall and Adam's seat before he could get into place to hover over Lance. Keith, for as long as it lasted, felt like it was the tiny bit of karma that Shiro deserved for ragging on him just now. "Lance and I gotta go. You've got that CS project due on Thursday, don't you?"

"Actually, I got an extension," Lance said. "So it's due on Monday now."

"But with all your weekends dates with your _lover_ over there, it might as well by due on Thursday," Shiro said. "So, let's go. No more stalling."

Lance groaned as he pushed his chair out with a loud scrape. "Alright, alright." He looked down at Keith as he stood. "Text me when you want to meet, ok?"

"I don't have your number," Keith replied.

"I'll give it to you in calc class tomorrow, but it has to be super sneaky. Can't let others in on our secret, yeah, lover?" Lance winked.

Keith scoffed, but he knew it sounded fond. "Of course not, lover. See you tomorrow."

Keith watched Shiro and Lance walk out of the coffee shop, partly because it was nice to see Lance's tail sway behind him, and partly because he just didn't want to see the way Adam was looking at him.

He couldn't avoid Adam forever, though. Slowly, he turned his head and met Adam's amused and almost overwhelmingly teasing eyes.

"I can't believe you two already have a pet name for each other," Adam said. "Shiro and I didn't get to that point until we had been dating for months. You guys haven't even started."

"Hey, what else was I supposed to do?" Keith asked, and it was _not_ a whine. "Not play along with him?"

"I'm not judging," Adam said, which was a lie. "I'm just making an observation."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Keith muttered. "Now can you finally let me do my reading here? Unlike Lance, I have neither a tutor nor an extension for the paper, so I really have to work on it."

"No one's stopping you." Adam took another sip of his coffee, and Keith sighed because it was true that no one was stopping him, now.

He kinda wished someone were, though. Maybe Lance. He seemed nicer than Shiro or Adam, at least.

And pretty cute, too.

 

* * *

 

True to his word, Lance had slipped Keith his number in both the most and least conspicuous way. Keith usually sat behind Lance during their calc class, but, the next day, he opted to sit beside Lance instead. He could already feel everyone's eyes on him, and it was more intimidating than he expected.

Did Lance always have this much attention on him?

In the middle of class, while the professor's back was turned, Lance slipped Keith a piece of paper that Keith didn't bother to look at, at first. He assumed it just had Lance's number written on it. Except, after a few minutes, Lance nudged Keith's leg with his foot and gestured at Keith to open the note.

'meet me in the bathroom 1 min after i leave', it wrote.

Keith glanced at Lance, and Lance nodded. A minute later, Lance was sneaking out of the room, presumably to go to the bathroom. Another minute later, Keith was following behind him.

"So," Keith began when he say Lance waiting in the bathroom, fluffing up the tufts of his fur near his eras, "why did you ask me to come to the bathroom with you?"

Lance didn't respond for some time as he continued to fuss with himself. Then, he twirled around with a big grin. "Just to get people's tongues wagging a bit. I hope they think we're in here making out."

Keith snorted. "Is that why you're messing with your hair? To make it look like I had my hands all balled up in your hair?"

"Oh, you're a smart one, aren't you? I hadn't even thought of that, actually, but here, let's do yours while we're at it."

Keith thought it was a bit ridiculous, but didn't try to avoid Lance's hands at all. For the best, too, because Lance's fingers felt so nice running over his scalp as he mused up Keith's hair.

"I can't believe you have a mullet," Lance murmured as he moved onto the sides of Keith's hair, "and that you actually look kinda good with it. I thought that was, like, impossible."

"I can't believe you're trying to fuel the gossip with this," Keith added.

"All the better to get people off my back, I'd think. Besides, it's fun."

Keith wanted to disagree with that, but he just couldn't. There already was something fun about trying to anticipate people's reactions to them once they got back to class.

"You still have to give me your number," Keith reminded.

"Oh! Right, right, give me your phone, and you can have mine."

Numbers were exchanged after that before they made their quick departure from the bathroom. They had already been gone long enough.

They returned to the classroom together, much to the interest of their classmates and clear disinterest of their professor. She probably wasn't paid enough to pretend like she really cared about their bathroom shenanigans.

The rest of class went by quickly. Whenever Keith glanced over to the side to look at Lance, take in the sight of his high cheekbones and strong line of his nose in his profile, Lance's eyes were furrowed in concentration. Lance wasn't particularly good at calculus, Keith knew.

Still, Lance found time to snake his feet over to Keith to play a strange game of sideways footsie, and Keith had to fight desperately hard against the laugh that wanted so much to fizzle out of his mouth. _That_ , Keith suspected, would catch the attention of their professor in the worst way.

So, Keith instead did his best to meet the little twitches and teasing of his feet with his own, and, at the end of class, they said their goodbyes.

"Well," Lance said, and his tail twitched a bit, "I'll talk you again later, lover."

Keith had to swallow at the sound of Lance calling him by their new and sudden nickname in public like that. "Yeah. And I'll let you know in more detail when I'm free this weekend, lover."

Lance didn't give him a kiss on the cheek goodbye like Keith - for a split second - thought he would, but he did give the back of Keith's hands a quick brush of his fingers, and that felt just as good. At least, Keith assumed it did. He couldn't be sure, though, considering the fact that he had never been kissed on the cheek by Lance before.

Regardless, people still looked on - some with passive interest, others with active awe, and a few with absolute envy. It was weird for Keith, but not too bad, he figured.

And then his next class was engineering lab. Keith sat next to Hunk quietly, and Hunk remained quiet, too, as their professor went over that day's tasks and assignments to them.

When that was over and Keith set to setting things up, Hunk turned to him slowly. He expression was mostly bland, but it also made Keith a bit nervous.

"I hear you're dating Lance, now," Hunk whispered.

"Yeah," Keith answered, just as quietly. "We just started to, actually."

"Look, I know the truth. It'd be hard for me not to, being Lance's roommate and all," Hunk said. "This is definitely the kind of weird plan Lance would come up with, but I'm surprised that he got you roped up into it, too."

"It's fine," Keith said. "I'd feel bad if I didn't try to help him. With all the people that want to be with him just for being a hybrid and stuff and who try to do that by giving him catnip joints."

"He told you about Josh?"

"Josh was the whole reason this started," Keith revealed.

"I guess that'll do it." Hunk stopped, focusing instead of fitting a few pieces together for the contraption they were supposed to make. The pieces were old and a bit sticky, difficult to properly fit together after so many years of use, but Hunk made the whole thing look so easy. "But, you know, you can't let Lance force you into things. He can be surprisingly convincing at the strangest times, you know."

"You don't have to worry about that. It was my idea, actually."

Hunk looked at Keith skeptically. "Yeah?"

"Well," Keith hesitated. "It was _originally_ Lance's idea, I guess, but I was the one who decided to keep it going. So, Lance really didn't have much to do with this, in the end."

"If you say so. Just make sure you don't let yourself get carried away with Lance's schemes. I know well what that can feel like," Hunk said. "But, I do want to thank you. You won't _believe_ how many people come visit Lance at home to try to _woo_ him. It's kinda weird, honestly."

"I bet."

They worked on their lab assignment without speaking about it for the rest of the three hours they spend there, which was fine by Keith. And, by the end Keith also had a date time set up with Lance - Friday night, starting at 8:00. End time, undetermined, for now.

The rest of the week went by at a tortuously slow pace. Sure, Keith got to see Lance a few times during calc class, and, while they didn't take the time to come up with anymore fake makeout schemes, Lance still liked to press his legs up against Keith, even if just the slightest touch. And it was more fun than Keith had anticipated.

Something about Lance was just so comfortable. Keith had hardly spoken to him before running into him at the party, but he was just so easy to speak to that Keith almost forgot.

Not to mention, Lance was cute and fun.

And Lance didn't even care that Keith greeted him while dressed in his boxers that Friday evening because Keith had fallen asleep after his last class of the week, only to be awoken by Lance knocking on his apartment door.

"Hey, if you're busy or tired, don't worry about it," Lance said from where he stood at Keith's doorway. "We can always meet up another day. I know how it can get, sometimes, after a long week."

"No, it's fine," Keith responded. He hastily picked up a few clothes that were mostly clean before quickly tugging them on. "I just fell asleep and forgot to set a timer, but I'm fine now. Anyway, do you want anything? Some snacks or some drinks? I really only have some chips and takeout leftovers right now, but I do have some vodka laying around, I'm pretty sure."

"I'm fine. I actually brought some booze of my own, actually. It always pays to be a good guest, I've found."

"Yeah? What'd you bring?"

Lance hauled his backpack off his shoulder and rested it on the crowded coffee table with a loud clink. Inside was a mostly full bottle of tequila and a few bottles of random juices here and there. The tequila brand looked unfamiliar, though. It was probably one designed for hybrids, Keith realized.

"It won't really be the best cocktail," Lance said, already opening up the bottle of tequila, "but it'll be something. Of course, you can go and use your vodka, instead. My stuff is a bit weaker than what you're probably used to."

"I think I'll stick to my vodka, but I wouldn't mind mixing it with some of the raspberry juice you got there."

"Done and done."

It wasn't anything as fancy as the Pink Panther drink Lance had gotten Keith a week ago, but it was still nice. In fact, it was nice just being able to sit and drink with Lance while making idle conversation.

"Did you ever manage to finish that CS project of yours?" Keith asked as he sipped at his own drink. Lance had been quite generous with the juice, for which Keith was grateful. "Or do you still have to finish it up the rest of this weekend?"

"Oh, it's all well and done already!" Lance said happily. "Thanks to Shiro. Honestly, he probably did more of it than he should've, but it's fine, and you won't tell anyone, right?"

"My lips are sealed."

Keith continued to nurse his own drink while Lance set about to make another one for himself. Apparently, Lance was a fast drinker.

"Anyway, we gotta get out fake relationship all sorted out, don't we?" Lance asked. "So, our first date was at a coffee shop?"

"Sound good to me," Keith said. "And very believable."

"But maybe we can still say that our first real meeting was at a party," Lance said. "Just to keep us from getting too confused."

Keith nodded. "And the rest of our dates can just be whatever, I figured."

This time, Lance nodded. "And, when people ask, you can say that you fell for my incredible charm and stunning good looks. That I was so just so nice and smart that you couldn't help yourself from having a crush on me, and you just happened to be so luck with the fact that I liked you, too."

Keith scoffed around his drink. He was almost ready with his now, and he was already preparing to get himself another one. "And how about you? What drew charming and stunning you to little ol' me?" Keith asked with a wry smile.

"You were cute enough," Lance said slyly. "And you bought me lots of cute trinkets and gave me a lot of your most comfortable sweatshirts because you know that I love them."

"Should I do that, then? Give you some of my old sweatshirts?"

"I wouldn't say no to them."

"How bad are your 'admirers', anyway?" Keith asked as he mixed himself another drink. "I know you told me a bit a few days ago, but Hunk mentioned something about them coming over to your apartment just to find you?"

"Oh, yeah," Lance sighed deeply. He quickly swallowed down the rest of his drink before continuing. "That was mostly at my last apartment, though, when I lived alone. It all started after an ex of mine went around spreading rumors about me being easy and also super kinky while in heat. _God,_ he was a real asshole, I'll tell you."

Lance poured himself another drink - this time, a long shot of tequila. "And, to be honest, the kinky part isn't really a lie, but still. He also went ahead and told people my address, so that just made everything worse. It's actually better, now, but you can tell that there are some people who go around watching too much hybrid porn or read too much weird hybrid romance novels written by people who've never met a hybrid in their entire life."

"They all talk to me like I'm actually some sweet little kitten who's gonna purr all over them and solve all their problems with a flick of a tail." Lance huffed. "It's pretty exhausting, at the end of the day."

"Sounds like it. I can't imagine what that's like."

Lance was grimacing, but, after downing his generous shot, he turned back to Keith with a smile and slightly-flushed skin. "But at least I have you now! You're like my beard but in a very different way because everyone knows I'm bi."

"Glad I could help," Keith smiled, big and sincere.

"Anyway, I should probably go and let you get some more rest." Lance stood up, stretched with a yawn, then looked down at Keith. His tail, Keith noticed, was waving lightly by its tip, and Keith worked hard to keep himself from staring at it for too long.

Lance didn't seem to resent being a hybrid, but it obviously caused him a bit of trouble, so Keith didn't want to bring even more attention to it, even if Lance's tail was so soft and mesmerizing.

"You gonna be ok on your way back?" Keith asked.

"I'll be fine," Lance replied. "I brought my special hybrid tequila, so I'm not an embarrassing sloppy drunk like I was last week."

"You weren't _that_ bad."

"Well, I'm even better now. So I'll be fine. I'll even get a cab, I think. I'm pretty beat, too, and not in the mood to walk home now. Oh, and you can keep the raspberry juice, if you want."

Keith thanked Lance and watched him pack up the rest of stuff. Lance yawned while doing so, and Keith really wanted to yawn too. He doubted he'd look as cute as Lance while doing so, though

Then, when Lance began slipping on his shoes, Keith thought of something.

"Actually, before you go," Keith said, cutting through the silence. Lance looked over at him, eyes questioning and ears perked up with interest. "Do you want one of my sweatshirts now?"

Lance's ears twitched and perked up even more, somehow, as his eyes glinted excitedly. "Ooh, you really are a smart one. Very forward thinking and proactive. Wonderful traits for my fake boyfriend."

"I try," Keith chuckled. He stood up and quietly padded into his room. Lance may have been a bit a shorter than Keith, but it looked like his limbs were a bit longer. So, Keith figured a more loose-fitting one would be for the best.

Eventually, he settled for one back from when he played lacrosse that one year. It was emblazoned on the back with his last name printed in almost obnoxiously large letters, but Keith kinda liked that.

He liked that Lance would be wearing it.

"Hey about this one?" Keith asked, handing it to Lance.

"Oh, I love it," Lance said, " _Kogane_."

"What happened to lover?"

"Don't worry, you're still my lover."

"Then, I'll see you later, lover," Keith whispered.

"See ya, lover." Lance slung his backpack strap higher up his shoulder. "Let's hang out again soon, yeah? You really are more chill than I thought. To be honest. I used to think you were a bit cold."

Keith shrugged. "I get that sometimes."

"But it's nice to know I was wrong."

After that, Lance left with a small wave, his cab already outside waiting for him, and, once again, Keith felt oddly lonely being left there in his apartment by himself.

"Maybe I should get something of Lance's, too," Keith thought as he drifted to sleep.

A nice sweatshirt that was almost as soft as his fur would be nice.

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know what you think!
> 
> if you want to talk to me or want to know more about my writing and how to support me, you can find me on [tumblr](https://fever-d-dreams.tumblr.com)


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